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You jest but if you read Chuck Yeager's autobiography he reports piloting a test aircraft in France. He and his copilot got it off the ground and a small French man appeared from the passenger cabin with a tray of Champagne. 🙂
I am not sure if this is an accurate comparison. a stale baguette is rather soft and leathery, it can't inflict too much damage. A dry one however has properties of a rock and would be much more the reason for the design carnage inflicted.
The 1930s aeronautical industry: "We have these new things called Wind Tunnels, which allow you to measure drag and increase the performance of your designs." Amiot: "WTF is that good for?"
You look at the Am140 and you can see how much attention they gave to streamlining a open-cockpit (!) aircraft. The Armee de l'Air and the Air Ministry come along and imposed all sorts of changes.
There is some footage of the aircraft taken from the ground towards the end of this video and I was thinking the same thing. The brain just doesn't process the shape of these aircraft and tries to compensate.
I built a model of the Amiot 143 a few years ago, and it makes me smile when I look at it. I have it sat next to a Handley Page Heyford, and I'm about to start building an Aero MB-200. It is a collection to make you smile. Thank for the interesting vids, loving your work.
There's of course also the Bloch MB-210 from Heller/Směr, if you want your old stuff collection complete... And a bunch of completely new MB-200/210 from Kovozávody/Azur.
I think it is a really fun design visually. I have been drawn to odd interwar aircraft for my friend’s fantasy worldbuilding project, which is like golden age planes flying between floating cities and looting the ruins after a spiteful god flooded the world. Because the technological timeline is fictional and magic exists there’s a lot more leeway for weird stuff like the amiot :P
This is why Germany invaded France, they saw the Amiot 143 and said ".. We just need to kick in the glass door and the whole Green house will collapse ! .. " :D v
I wonder how many people understand the reference and appreciate how switched on with this subject our OP is in order to have spontaneously broken off this particular comment, and how many people just thought it was funny without the context?
OHHHH AND HOW WELL THEY DID IT!! 😂😂😂😂 They only felt bad for France and didnt want to take them out in one day. It is fun to play with your food at times 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@qwopiretyu yeah, I typically don't really dig on these particular types of commentaries, as they feel to me like the first step down the road towards gatekeeping and elitism. However this one is fairly high quality, and I don't sense any sort of exclusionary intentions either, so I endorse it.
I love your coverage of the French Air Force. I’ve always found French interwar air craft fascinating. Of course I love all obscure aircraft so bring them on.
"The Amiot was considered the best of the bunch." Oh, I would love to learn more about its competitors! Thanks for this jewel of aerial combat documentation and comedy.
@@billywindsock9597 not that bad, just outdated... proposals from 1928 materialised in 1938. imagine alternative history - those (along potez 540 or MB200) entering service as gapfill solution in 1932, replaced in 1939-41 by Bloch MB162, LeO 451 and Potez 630 series
There is a myth that the French in wartime were not brave. Nothing could be further from the truth. They were some of the bravest people of the war. Given nothing to fight with by their inconsistent leadership throughout the 1930s....
@@IronClawGamingthat will be Petains shame , not the french. Imagine your greatest WWI hero that you trust blindly doing what he did and taking you completely by surprise by surrendering unconditionally while ,due to lack of internet , you follow the order not knowing what happened until too late.
@@IronClawGaming I’ve read the Rommel Papers. Your assessment of their “shame” doesn’t fit with the people. To be clear, I will carry on making jokes as if it does.
I think it's a rather elegant bit of architecture. A pleasant little mobile orangery, for viewing the picturesque French countryside, whilst relaxing in pleasant surroundings. All round, an excellent vehicle for touring and sightseeing in style and comfort. Disclaimer: Not to be used for warfare under any circumstances. Warranty void if misused.
How many Ketamine tablets did you take with your morning coffee ?, the Amiot 143 was and still is, a French Dog conceived by Klunk from Hanna Barberra,s Dastardly and Muttley, a 1970,s cartoon. It has all the aerodynamics of a school shit house, pulled through the air with great distress by two Gnome Rhone 14K Mistral Majors, an engine with the reliability, robustness of a paper doily . Only concession to modernity ,is cats&kittens, an enclosed cockpit and turrets , brakes on its large tractor like main wheels and a castoring tail wheel. I thought our aero industry in the late 20,s early 30,s has cooked up some real dogs ,but Amiot,s 143 takes the f-----g biscuit.
So glad you did a video on the Amiot 143. I love building scale plastic models, and your video made me pull out my 1/72 Heller kit of the Amiot and get building. Thanks for the inspiration, Rex.
Sorry but the problem is absolutely not political but conceptual. We are looking for economical aircraft that can carry out several types of missions with current technologies. This gives rise to several strange things, sometimes far-fetched but not without meaning given the times. The design of planes is the responsibility of engineers... The politician intervenes later to decide on production.
Some people think that the Wehrmacht invaded France for defensive and political reasons but I'm firmly of the opinion that they did it on the grounds of aesthetic sanity.
The Germans did use French military equipment. In between WW1 and WW2 the French had some interesting "projects" - in fact most industrialised nations did. In fact the only serious contender were Germany - the rest had to pick up the paces extremely quick. The Germans eventually had their fair share of "wonder weapons" due to Hitlers fascination of big arms. The incompetent rivalry between the leading figures like Göring and Himmler didn't help like manufacturers seeking favours and contracts in spite of what was necessary. You could argue the rest of the world took notes - Germany in general went from a well oiled machine to pure disaster - especially fueled by Hitler personally believing in some kind of magic weapon turning the war to the German side. Luckily a lot of opportunists in the German military complex were milking the system for their own agenda wasting ressources that were desperately needed elsewhere... That probably won WW2... In hindsight we're all the wiser. Napoleon said you shouldn't prevent the enemy from making mistakes - Hitler didn't learn from the mistakes of Napoleon - like Hitler in their own minds were brilliant and destined for something great - causing the deaths of millions as an acceptable loss to fulfill their destiny. You could be finding equally minded people today. You don't have to look a lot - one will tell you how great he is - how his vision will make the nation great... People believing in it - especially you can blame and punish others for you not being so great as you could be - some people out to have their rights evoked.... If it sounds familiar - it's because we've seen it before and the devastating effects it had!
@abcdef-qk6jf I was going to give you a like, until you started bring todays US politics into the mix... I would have reacted the same way whichever side you chose in this.
@RustyLightningPhoto Ok, now that I know for certain you're an idiot, I can think of only one phrase that won't get me to type out a long treatise on how wrong you are: Bless your heart ....
17:15 I am somewhat upset that there isn't a single random Anakin account to bite on that bait. Little things like that that make the Internet worth all the... challenges it poses. Hope the machine spirit blesses you with such important occurances, Rex!
I've learned so much about justly forgotten early to mid 20h Century aircraft from your videos. They're in depth but a good length for your viewers to stay focused on during a single playthrough. And you take the right tone with each aircraft. Though this specific one would have fit even better if released on April 1st.
This looks like the result of a particularly demented episode of "Scrapheap Challenge". Say what you like about the French Air Force, they certainly didn't lack courage.
I mean, a proper hotel needs a conservatory for guests to lounge in while awaiting dinner, right? The French armed forces had no _choice_ but to build the Amiot and its brethren.
Honestly, if I could somehow afford an aircraft of this size IRL; it'd be really neat to have one with that underslung gondola... for a civilian aircraft. It just seems like the sort of thing that would be really cool for a modern light passenger plane/tour plane... but badly badly out of place on something that's supposed to go into combat.
French planes back then looked like garden sheds put together wrong. The Russians looked on with undisguised admiration! A few minutes látēr - “hold my vodka!”
I really do like the French. After having to learn French in school. I do love them, and their quirks. They are lovely, in so many ways. Their humour, their food, the wine. The cheese. And their cars, like the Citroën Traction Avant, the first front drive car made in large numbers, back in the thirties. My dad's first car, by the way. The Inspector Maigret car, for those of you who remember the TV series. (Rowan Atkinson made a brilliant remake of that series, love it!) But this aircraft, and so much else about French interwar things. Why, why, why?
Always enjoy a new video from you. Your coverage is educational and I love your wit and one liners. Thank you for hours of free entertainment and education.
Thanks for providing a good video on an aircraft that I had heard of, was interested in, and knew little about. Very informative, keep up the good work Mr. Rex !
I used to be a bicycle mechanic. I have worked on many old French bicycles. They did so many things differently, and for apparently no reason, and for obvious reasons, nobody copied them.
I always thought that the aircraft featured in Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines were the imaginings from the animators at Hanna-Barbera. Apparently not
Ratier-Figeac, the propeller manufacturer 1904 to 2007, now fully Hamilton Standard Inc, used to build good propellers, specially smaller ones up to about 150 hp. Above that it was a lottery. Today they produce Airbus parts. Also, they produced motorcycles and engines back in the day.
Amiot _almost_ got it right. What they missed was making it _modular_ so that specialized pods for each mission would slide in under that nose. Bomber? Bombardier and ventral gunner and all the bombs you can fit? Put some bays in the wing like the RAF that can be also used for fuel tanks. Reconnaissance? Not only carry cameras and operators, but small development labs so the pics will be done when they land. _Armed_ reconnaissance? Swap the lab and photo tech for more gunners.
Oh Rex mate, opportunity missed! 'Amiot 143: When greenhouses go to war' was just begging to be the title, also ties in well with a certain very popular video on another channel. 😉
12:52 - Been so thoroughly conditioned by the monstrosities shown thus far in this vid, that by the time the Bloch MB.210 appears it looks downright sexy. EDIT: Loved the reference at 17:14 😆
I think the Amiot 143 looks fantastic. It was designed with the dieselpunk aesthetic in mind! The crew weren't given parachutes, they were equipped with rocket packs in case they needed to exit a stricken aircraft PDQ.
Boy howdy, "ugly" hardly begins to describe the Amiot 143. The word "STARVED" comes to mind -- the poor thing looks like it was forced to live off what scraps it could find on Devil's Island!
*I can't begin to imagine the shock and heartbreak the men felt when told to go back in even though Armistice was only minutes away. "War does not determine who is right - only who is left." -Bertrand Russell*
Creating mechanical disasters combined with backwards designing is a skill that the French and the English have in common 😂😂... This also reflects in the cars that came from both countries . Not only mechanical but also electrical french and English brands are well known for driving many owner and mechanic absolutely insane 😂.
The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe found a new vocation as French Aeronautical Engineer and succeeded wildly beyond her dreams. All it needs is a bit of wisteria growing about the gondola as camouflage.
Paul Richey in his book ‘Fighter Pilot’ has certain scathing observations to make about the French bombers in comparison with the preparations of RAF Bomber Command. This is either in 1938 or 39. ‘During the annual RAF air exercises in midsummer a foreign air force was allowed to fly over England for the first time (German Zeppelins and bombers of the bombers who 'attacked' London notwithstanding.) We intercepted them with the aid of RDF at 14,000 feet in bright sunshine off the south coast. How gay they looked with their red, white and light blue markings! But how pathetically out-of-date. Later that day Johnny Walker and I intercepted three RAF Blenheims low over the Downs under a violent thunderstorm. They looked grim and businesslike, with mock German crosses on their wings’…
I used to play the Crimson Skies boardgame, a game of the strange and wondrous fictional airplanes of a fictional '30s. This plane SO belongs in that setting, based on looks alone. :D
Again a very informative and wonderfull narrated video. Big Thanks! And somehow the picture of the flying 144 is way more distressing as the 143 for me
Interwar French aircraft designers: "Aeronautics? What are we, Germans?";) 3:39 Back to the comedy of errors. Remembering Drachinifel's "when hotels went to sea," we have "hotels that fly through the air.";)
My grand father was in these bombers during the war and flew the suicide mission on May 14 th in 1940 . He was in the Nr 69 Amiot 143 as radio operator and navigator in the lower part of the aircraft . He and his crew have bombed bridges and groups of troops . They have been severely hit by flak groundfire . The plane has received a direct hit that took away the front turret . A few moments later the aircraft began to burn but kept on flying . Then appeared german Me 109’s and Me 110's fighters . One of the 109's took place behind and slighty below the Amiot and shot a burst . My grand father has been wounded by some bullets in the legs . The captain yelled everybody to bail out and they did . The pilot delayed his jump to keep the plane in line for the crew to jump correctly and jumped at the last moment . He has been badly burnt . All the crew survived ( rear turret gunner , front turret gunner , captain ) and two were wounded ( pilot and radio navigator ) .
After I looked at some three view drawings I noticed that, if you shave off the greenhouse gondola and clean it up a bit you actually end up with a seriously sleek sharp aircraft. Of course, in this you lose any and all defense. Then remove the gear, i.e. retract the darn thing and there you have it. Perfect. Quick. Sleek. Nice even.
The Amiot 14x was a good plane. Designed in 1928...first flight in 1931. It carried well and flew fast when designed... It was ordered too late and remained in service too long. Its successor, the Leo 45 (45x), arrived too late. Despite its flaws, the Léo143 performed very well and was appreciated.
"Things to come", was an influential novel/movie, by Hg Wells, in the 30's. It can be seen on this platform, (war was envisioned, the timing was a little different).
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19:36 - front right corner of the cockpit - some kind of rack made of parallel rods - what was it?
Is this a sequel to war wings?
great idea!
Rex should made a Vid on the CAC Wirraway or the Boomerang
I would love to see a video on the Sopwith tabloid series (Tabloid, Schneider and baby) since I feel the're highly underated aircraft
The bay window is there so the crew can take a break and have their wine and cheese in comfort.
Quiet.
You jest but if you read Chuck Yeager's autobiography he reports piloting a test aircraft in France. He and his copilot got it off the ground and a small French man appeared from the passenger cabin with a tray of Champagne. 🙂
😂😂😂😂😂 Mmmm! Camembert and brie...
Smoke a Gauloise and enjoy a Pastis.
Licenced for dancing?
This plane's takeoff and landing cycles are an argument between the ground and sky of "ew, I don't wanna touch it."
Alas, the sky always wins :D
Don't expect mercy from the enemy :)
Best line ever : "Brutalized by the blunt end of a stale baguette!" 🤣
I am not sure if this is an accurate comparison.
a stale baguette is rather soft and leathery, it can't inflict too much damage.
A dry one however has properties of a rock and would be much more the reason for the design carnage inflicted.
@@SamuelLanghorn I've seen proper French baguettes turn to rock from one day to the other, when on holiday in France, I can definitely believe it.
Between Drach's video on French cruisers and this video, it's a baguette banquet today! Thanks as always for your hard work.
That one's next after the last Lavochkin fighter from Not A Pound
Add The Rest is History covering the French Revolution.
Same here. Was a nice interwar French air and navy double treat. Thanks Rex and Drach.
The 1930s aeronautical industry: "We have these new things called Wind Tunnels, which allow you to measure drag and increase the performance of your designs." Amiot: "WTF is that good for?"
You look at the Am140 and you can see how much attention they gave to streamlining a open-cockpit (!) aircraft. The Armee de l'Air and the Air Ministry come along and imposed all sorts of changes.
That's why Amiot 340 and 354 were made.
@@elanvital9720 Well, that problem also had utterly different specifications.
Edit: Program! Not "problem," program!
I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!! 🤣
wind tunnels aren't even 1930s tech: the Wright brothers built one in 1900s and used it to test the design of their Wright Flyer I
My first thought on seeing the Amiot 140: "it's upside-down!"
There is some footage of the aircraft taken from the ground towards the end of this video and I was thinking the same thing. The brain just doesn't process the shape of these aircraft and tries to compensate.
totally, thought the same thing
I built a model of the Amiot 143 a few years ago, and it makes me smile when I look at it. I have it sat next to a Handley Page Heyford, and I'm about to start building an Aero MB-200. It is a collection to make you smile.
Thank for the interesting vids, loving your work.
There's of course also the Bloch MB-210 from Heller/Směr, if you want your old stuff collection complete... And a bunch of completely new MB-200/210 from Kovozávody/Azur.
The Heyford is a real beauty! Imagine it fighting against Me 109s in 1940. Oh, the French tried something like that...
lol Mutant Aircraft Collection. I'd love to see it.
I think it is a really fun design visually. I have been drawn to odd interwar aircraft for my friend’s fantasy worldbuilding project, which is like golden age planes flying between floating cities and looting the ruins after a spiteful god flooded the world. Because the technological timeline is fictional and magic exists there’s a lot more leeway for weird stuff like the amiot :P
@@Shot5hells Do you know Miazaki's movie Porco Rosso? It's inspired by the same era's aesthetics, altough most of the aurcraft there are seaplanes.
This is why Germany invaded France, they saw the Amiot 143 and said ".. We just need to kick in the glass door and the whole Green house will collapse ! .. " :D v
I wonder how many people understand the reference and appreciate how switched on with this subject our OP is in order to have spontaneously broken off this particular comment, and how many people just thought it was funny without the context?
OHHHH AND HOW WELL THEY DID IT!! 😂😂😂😂 They only felt bad for France and didnt want to take them out in one day. It is fun to play with your food at times 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@tommytwotacos8106 Hey, I got the reference. Okay, I'm a filthy history buff though.😅
@@tommytwotacos8106 very inside baseball to be certain
@qwopiretyu yeah, I typically don't really dig on these particular types of commentaries, as they feel to me like the first step down the road towards gatekeeping and elitism. However this one is fairly high quality, and I don't sense any sort of exclusionary intentions either, so I endorse it.
AKA “The flying gondola“, you would think it was an airship disguised as a plane.
I thought of the flying tool shed.
I guess if the Austrians flew it, it could be a sauna.
The non sea, seaplane?
So this is the time when engineers still think the 'flying tube with a gondola' still viable instead of 'flying tube with seats inside' used postwar?
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 pretty much a French thing.
I love your coverage of the French Air Force. I’ve always found French interwar air craft fascinating. Of course I love all obscure aircraft so bring them on.
Interesting is a funny way to describe "absolutely horrifying"
French military avaiation presents a great obstacle.... It's difficult to make an airplane fly in reverse to retreat
"The Amiot was considered the best of the bunch." Oh, I would love to learn more about its competitors! Thanks for this jewel of aerial combat documentation and comedy.
I gasped at that line too. How bad were they!?
@@billywindsock9597 not that bad, just outdated... proposals from 1928 materialised in 1938. imagine alternative history - those (along potez 540 or MB200) entering service as gapfill solution in 1932, replaced in 1939-41 by Bloch MB162, LeO 451 and Potez 630 series
The Polish Zubr bomber was even uglier and less functional.
There is a myth that the French in wartime were not brave. Nothing could be further from the truth. They were some of the bravest people of the war. Given nothing to fight with by their inconsistent leadership throughout the 1930s....
Anyone courageous enough to take into the air in one of those deserves a salute!
If they were so brave then why did they surrender? This will forever be their eternal shame.
@@IronClawGamingthat will be Petains shame , not the french.
Imagine your greatest WWI hero that you trust blindly doing what he did and taking you completely by surprise by surrendering unconditionally while ,due to lack of internet , you follow the order not knowing what happened until too late.
@@IronClawGaming They DIED that's the point. Did you watch the video??
@@IronClawGaming I’ve read the Rommel Papers. Your assessment of their “shame” doesn’t fit with the people.
To be clear, I will carry on making jokes as if it does.
Art Déco: sleek, aerodynamic lines.
Amiot 143: bonjour!
It was a cubist plane, didn't you guess?
@@deck614 B&V or Miles libuella seem more cubist with random wings and fuselages all over the place.
@@wbertie2604 I mean the cubist paintings or furniture style of the early 30s, not the insult :D
Okay, Art Deco style if you prefer...
@deck614 I mean paintings too, with elements of a body in odd places and angles. I refer you back to the cubist aircraft of B&V :)
@@wbertie2604 Yes the 138 especially - however a good aircraft.
I think it's a rather elegant bit of architecture. A pleasant little mobile orangery, for viewing the picturesque French countryside, whilst relaxing in pleasant surroundings.
All round, an excellent vehicle for touring and sightseeing in style and comfort.
Disclaimer: Not to be used for warfare under any circumstances. Warranty void if misused.
It would work well with a bit of stained glass or some nice curtains
How many Ketamine tablets did you take with your morning coffee ?, the Amiot 143 was and still is, a French Dog conceived by Klunk from Hanna Barberra,s Dastardly and Muttley, a 1970,s cartoon. It has all the aerodynamics of a school shit house, pulled through the air with great distress by two Gnome Rhone 14K Mistral Majors, an engine with the reliability, robustness of a paper doily . Only concession to modernity ,is cats&kittens, an enclosed cockpit and turrets , brakes on its large tractor like main wheels and a castoring tail wheel. I thought our aero industry in the late 20,s early 30,s has cooked up some real dogs ,but Amiot,s 143 takes the f-----g biscuit.
What's not to like? You have a fantastic view and fresh vine ripened tomatoes during the flight!😊
That's fantastic for civilian aircraft in my opinion.
So glad you did a video on the Amiot 143. I love building scale plastic models, and your video made me pull out my 1/72 Heller kit of the Amiot and get building. Thanks for the inspiration, Rex.
Jean de Laubier was a brave man to go with his men.
Absolutely.. total hero move.
Shame hard to find any more info on such a great man. I've tried.
If he had been an American he would have a USAF base named after him.
Rex, your examinations and explanations of interwar French aviation are superb. Political chaos is no aid to military readiness
Sorry but the problem is absolutely not political but conceptual. We are looking for economical aircraft that can carry out several types of missions with current technologies.
This gives rise to several strange things, sometimes far-fetched but not without meaning given the times.
The design of planes is the responsibility of engineers... The politician intervenes later to decide on production.
Built a model kit of this. It's beggers belief they actually built this. If it don't look right it probably is. It's that simple
What are you going to plant in your new green house?
Some people think that the Wehrmacht invaded France for defensive and political reasons but I'm firmly of the opinion that they did it on the grounds of aesthetic sanity.
The Germans did use French military equipment. In between WW1 and WW2 the French had some interesting "projects" - in fact most industrialised nations did. In fact the only serious contender were Germany - the rest had to pick up the paces extremely quick. The Germans eventually had their fair share of "wonder weapons" due to Hitlers fascination of big arms. The incompetent rivalry between the leading figures like Göring and Himmler didn't help like manufacturers seeking favours and contracts in spite of what was necessary. You could argue the rest of the world took notes - Germany in general went from a well oiled machine to pure disaster - especially fueled by Hitler personally believing in some kind of magic weapon turning the war to the German side. Luckily a lot of opportunists in the German military complex were milking the system for their own agenda wasting ressources that were desperately needed elsewhere... That probably won WW2... In hindsight we're all the wiser. Napoleon said you shouldn't prevent the enemy from making mistakes - Hitler didn't learn from the mistakes of Napoleon - like Hitler in their own minds were brilliant and destined for something great - causing the deaths of millions as an acceptable loss to fulfill their destiny. You could be finding equally minded people today. You don't have to look a lot - one will tell you how great he is - how his vision will make the nation great... People believing in it - especially you can blame and punish others for you not being so great as you could be - some people out to have their rights evoked.... If it sounds familiar - it's because we've seen it before and the devastating effects it had!
@abcdef-qk6jf
I was going to give you a like, until you started bring todays US politics into the mix... I would have reacted the same way whichever side you chose in this.
Nobody said the word Nazi, sorry I mean Maga.
@RustyLightningPhoto
Ok, now that I know for certain you're an idiot, I can think of only one phrase that won't get me to type out a long treatise on how wrong you are:
Bless your heart ....
@@abcdef-qk6jfYou are absolutely correct
17:15 I am somewhat upset that there isn't a single random Anakin account to bite on that bait. Little things like that that make the Internet worth all the... challenges it poses. Hope the machine spirit blesses you with such important occurances, Rex!
To be fair, we did get the joke from captain Rex's hangar
@@yoface2537 fair-enough
I tough it was about the Machine Spirit of a warhammer 40K Landraider, just screaming to be released from that contraption.
It looks like one of the planes from the vulture squadron (Dastardly & Muttley).
STOP THE DESIGNER!
It really does!
Exactly! Along with Siemens-Shuckert WW1 fighters.
Maybe someone at Hanna-Barbera had seen one? 😂😂
Stop that Pigeon now !
Maybe the idea was to make it *so* laughable that an attacking fighter pilot would be laughing so hard he would not be able to aim?
That is the only plausible explanation. Or maybe, absinthe?
I've learned so much about justly forgotten early to mid 20h Century aircraft from your videos. They're in depth but a good length for your viewers to stay focused on during a single playthrough. And you take the right tone with each aircraft. Though this specific one would have fit even better if released on April 1st.
Always waiting for some WH40k remark and I am rarely disappointed :)
...listen for a few more minutes and there is also a Star Wars quote for good measure. 😉
This looks like the result of a particularly demented episode of "Scrapheap Challenge". Say what you like about the French Air Force, they certainly didn't lack courage.
French pre-dreadnoughts "Nous sommes les hôtels de la guerre!"
Amiot 143 : "Tiens mon Pernod"
We Are The Aerial Hotels Of War. You get complimentary chocolates and a bedbug infested bed with your PTSD.
It's like the designers at Amiot took a bet that they could make something actually *Uglier* than the French Pre-Dreadnoughts
I mean, a proper hotel needs a conservatory for guests to lounge in while awaiting dinner, right? The French armed forces had no _choice_ but to build the Amiot and its brethren.
Should be the Winnebagos.. "they lived in Lignerolles in an Amiot-143..." doesn't have the cachet of the opening lyrics of Zappa's San Ber'dino..
@@tauncfester3022 I think it has huge promise.
I absolutely love aircraft from this era! They're so delightfully quirky.
Today's breakfast, weird French bomber with Rex, followed by weird French cruisers by Drach.
I'm sure the Chieftain has a video on weird French tanks too.
Honestly, if I could somehow afford an aircraft of this size IRL; it'd be really neat to have one with that underslung gondola... for a civilian aircraft. It just seems like the sort of thing that would be really cool for a modern light passenger plane/tour plane... but badly badly out of place on something that's supposed to go into combat.
I can see tooling around in that taking sight seeing groups. Can you imagine flying over Sydney Harbour, or scenic fjords, or something. The view's!
My thoughts exactly!
French planes back then looked like garden sheds put together wrong. The Russians looked on with undisguised admiration!
A few minutes látēr - “hold my vodka!”
more like "synthetic deicing alcohol"?
When you have lots of random Lego bits in a box and decide to make a bomber, this is the sort of thing you end up with
When I was a kid I deliberately made an Amiot in Lego
1:06 that "Eeehh" is golden omg
Sacré bleu our aeroplane has crashed onto your double decker bus!
Fun video. I wonder why the plane reminds me of French pre-dreadnoughts and the apparent French obsession with windows. "Mutilated toaster" indeed.
I really do like the French. After having to learn French in school. I do love them, and their quirks. They are lovely, in so many ways. Their humour, their food, the wine. The cheese. And their cars, like the Citroën Traction Avant, the first front drive car made in large numbers, back in the thirties. My dad's first car, by the way. The Inspector Maigret car, for those of you who remember the TV series. (Rowan Atkinson made a brilliant remake of that series, love it!) But this aircraft, and so much else about French interwar things. Why, why, why?
Im always impressed they got these into the air!
he flew very well
17:14 Just love that quote you've (sneakily?) added here. Thanks for the chuckle!
Always enjoy a new video from you. Your coverage is educational and I love your wit and one liners. Thank you for hours of free entertainment and education.
Thanks for providing a good video on an aircraft that I had heard of, was interested in, and knew little about. Very informative, keep up the good work Mr. Rex !
19:34. Well the wind shield looks rather nice. That work for me. Probably the one single place where the look does not totally offend.
Oh yeah the flying greenhouse as he called it before
Another flying greenhouse was the Link-Hoffman R1 from WWI, now there is a weird design.
@@washingtonradio cool thanks
I used to be a bicycle mechanic. I have worked on many old French bicycles. They did so many things differently, and for apparently no reason, and for obvious reasons, nobody copied them.
Ah, but, bicycle theft is very low in France.
@@littlefluffybushbaby7256 maybe!
'the French copy no one, and no one copies the French '
Unlike French cars, where EVERYBODY has copied them - even if they don't realize it...
Hands down my top 5 favorite french birds (for looks).
It's just missing the third engine😆
I'll stick with Brigitte Bardot ... 😉
They could have mounted the third engine on a pylon just behind the pilot, or two in pusher/pulling configuration 😊.
I always thought that the aircraft featured in Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines were the imaginings from the animators at Hanna-Barbera. Apparently not
Thats big balls, handing off your personal effects, going on the raid anyway. They were brave men.
I love the look of old Interwar aircraft. God bless the French designers for making some of the most unique looking aircraft out there.
Ratier-Figeac, the propeller manufacturer 1904 to 2007, now fully Hamilton Standard Inc, used to build good propellers, specially smaller ones up to about 150 hp. Above that it was a lottery. Today they produce Airbus parts. Also, they produced motorcycles and engines back in the day.
Oh Rex… I loved your sarcasm on this video!
Amiot _almost_ got it right. What they missed was making it _modular_ so that specialized pods for each mission would slide in under that nose. Bomber? Bombardier and ventral gunner and all the bombs you can fit? Put some bays in the wing like the RAF that can be also used for fuel tanks. Reconnaissance? Not only carry cameras and operators, but small development labs so the pics will be done when they land. _Armed_ reconnaissance? Swap the lab and photo tech for more gunners.
Ahh. Like Thunderbird Two. Genius.
I love hilariously awkward interwar designs. They have a real charm that's absent from the technologically good designs of the time and after.
Pretty much all planes have kinda boiled down into the most efficient effective shapes/designs. It makes sense, but it also makes them a bit same-y.
It looks like something out of Studio Ghiibli - and therefore beautiful.
Oh Rex mate, opportunity missed!
'Amiot 143: When greenhouses go to war' was just begging to be the title, also ties in well with a certain very popular video on another channel. 😉
Damn, this looks AWESOME!! It looks like those crazy Studio Gibli animation designs!
12:52 - Been so thoroughly conditioned by the monstrosities shown thus far in this vid, that by the time the Bloch MB.210 appears it looks downright sexy.
EDIT: Loved the reference at 17:14 😆
I think the Amiot 143 looks fantastic.
It was designed with the dieselpunk aesthetic in mind!
The crew weren't given parachutes, they were equipped with rocket packs in case they needed to exit a stricken aircraft PDQ.
I was not prepared for the Anakin Skywalker quote in my Friday morning French aviation video. 🤣
It's France. Aerodynamics didn't take a holiday, they were finally invited into the country when Dassault needed to invent the Mirage.
Marcel Bloch has invented several beautiful planes used by the French Air Force at the beginning of WWII long before changing his name for Dassault.
@@marco-dn7kd ok and that has to do with what I said how?
@classicforreal French Aerodynamics did not have to wait for the Mirage.
@@marco-dn7kd but clearly the joke flew over your head
@classicforreal I may have seen a mirage then ...!
Boy howdy, "ugly" hardly begins to describe the Amiot 143. The word "STARVED" comes to mind -- the poor thing looks like it was forced to live off what scraps it could find on Devil's Island!
It's a good job the 140 had wheels, otherwise I couldn't tell which way up it was.
The bucket and spade and rake you got as a child when you went to the seaside .
Only the French could put wings on it .
Really good video Rex. Had me laughing my head off with your "Interesting" comments. Keep em coming brother!
*I can't begin to imagine the shock and heartbreak the men felt when told to go back in even though Armistice was only minutes away. "War does not determine who is right - only who is left." -Bertrand Russell*
Honey wake up, a new Rex's Hanger video dropped!
the more you look for obscure, strange aircraft, the more of them appear. but doing so also does things to the timeline. and yet...
Don't forget to take a drink every time Rex mentions the 2-hour video on inter-war French air force doctrine.
Creating mechanical disasters combined with backwards designing is a skill that the French and the English have in common 😂😂...
This also reflects in the cars that came from both countries .
Not only mechanical but also electrical french and English brands are well known for driving many owner and mechanic absolutely insane 😂.
@11:39 "...as it had the aerodynamics of a winged drinks cabinet .."
OMG - I laughed mine arse off at that comment !
The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe found a new vocation as French Aeronautical Engineer and succeeded wildly beyond her dreams. All it needs is a bit of wisteria growing about the gondola as camouflage.
All the BCRs looked like somebody set a grand piano on its side, then stuck on a couple of dinner tables for wings.
Paul Richey in his book ‘Fighter Pilot’ has certain scathing observations to make about the French bombers in comparison with the preparations of RAF Bomber Command. This is either in 1938 or 39.
‘During the annual RAF air exercises in midsummer a foreign air force was allowed to fly over England for the first time (German Zeppelins and bombers of the bombers who 'attacked' London notwithstanding.)
We intercepted them with the aid of RDF at 14,000 feet in bright sunshine off the south coast. How gay they looked with their red, white and light blue markings! But how pathetically out-of-date. Later that day Johnny Walker and I intercepted three RAF Blenheims low over the Downs under a violent thunderstorm. They looked grim and businesslike, with mock German crosses on their wings’…
It's so ugly and bizarre it's majestic!
I used to play the Crimson Skies boardgame, a game of the strange and wondrous fictional airplanes of a fictional '30s. This plane SO belongs in that setting, based on looks alone. :D
Again a very informative and wonderfull narrated video. Big Thanks!
And somehow the picture of the flying 144 is way more distressing as the 143 for me
AS always well researched, but I have to admit that I tune in for your comments on designs etc that make me giggle.
I like it! Planes like this are the Pinnacle of real Dieselpunk Stuff! Man, this is inspiring... I wonder, if there is a Model Kit in 1/48...
I love the aircraft designs from this period, something about them appeals to me.
The first prototype looks like they put the landing gear on the wrong side and then designed it to work
4:45 -- I dunno, it seems perfectly suited for the role of intercepting dirigibles. Or balloons. Well, TETHERED balloons, anyhow . . !
Interwar French aircraft designers: "Aeronautics? What are we, Germans?";) 3:39 Back to the comedy of errors.
Remembering Drachinifel's "when hotels went to sea," we have "hotels that fly through the air.";)
Scrolling. Read subtitle of video. Almost blurt laugh with coffee in my mouth. Five stars.
I feel almost indirectly responsible for this having suggested Amiot 143 a while back for Rex's "Ugliest French Aircraft" video. 😆
Now go to your room and think about what you did.
Chris. Your back on a normal rate, I hope. Good to have you. Great work as usual. This bucket is so ugly it has to be loved. Or was that laughed.
My grand father was in these bombers during the war and flew the suicide mission on May 14 th in 1940 . He was in the Nr 69 Amiot 143 as radio operator and navigator in the lower part of the aircraft . He and his crew have bombed bridges and groups of troops . They have been severely hit by flak groundfire . The plane has received a direct hit that took away the front turret . A few moments later the aircraft began to burn but kept on flying . Then appeared german Me 109’s and Me 110's fighters . One of the 109's took place behind and slighty below the Amiot and shot a burst . My grand father has been wounded by some bullets in the legs . The captain yelled everybody to bail out and they did . The pilot delayed his jump to keep the plane in line for the crew to jump correctly and jumped at the last moment . He has been badly burnt . All the crew survived ( rear turret gunner , front turret gunner , captain ) and two were wounded ( pilot and radio navigator ) .
Understand one of these has been converted into Luxury Accommodations somewhere in Bali or something. Best type of a Reperpose project.
"Winged drinks cabinet" 🤣🤣🤣 Nice one Rex
After I looked at some three view drawings I noticed that, if you shave off the greenhouse gondola and clean it up a bit you actually end up with a seriously sleek sharp aircraft. Of course, in this you lose any and all defense. Then remove the gear, i.e. retract the darn thing and there you have it. Perfect. Quick. Sleek. Nice even.
Great video.
Hats off to the aircrews.
The Amiot 14x was a good plane.
Designed in 1928...first flight in 1931. It carried well and flew fast when designed...
It was ordered too late and remained in service too long.
Its successor, the Leo 45 (45x), arrived too late.
Despite its flaws, the Léo143 performed very well and was appreciated.
Ah yes, flying greenhouse Part 2.
Part 3 actually
@@yoface2537Really? Well, i must've missed it. What is the name of the video?
17:17 You are now captain rex's hangar
Vengeful machine spirt? the correct incantations and blessings to appease the Omnissiah was not done.
Would you make a video about the Do 19 or Ju 89 ? I always found the Uralbomber prototypes interesting.
17:15 I feel a tremor in the force about what you did there :P
Those French really showed them! Thanks for the history on a historic war plane!
18:52That attitude is noble, but also robs the air force of experienced leaders it could ill afford to lose
"Things to come", was an influential novel/movie, by Hg Wells, in the 30's. It can be seen on this platform, (war was envisioned, the timing was a little different).
Love, wake up Rex just uploaded!